How Much Protein Is Too Much?

Find out just how much protein you need and how you can easily hit the required levels in your daily diet.

- Ashleigh Feltham, APD

If you think you need to have a cup-board full of protein supplements to get enough protein to achieve results, you’re not alone — but what you may not realise is that, in most cases, this is incorrect. Protein is a major nutrient that your body needs to build and repair the cells in your body.

So how much protein do you need in a day?

The answer is most people need between 70 and 120 per cent of their body weight in protein (in grams) to meet their daily needs — so if you are a woman who weighs 60kg, you need 42-72g of protein across a day.

There are a few occasions however when you will need increased amounts of protein, and these are in the earlier stages of life (during times of fast growth in children and adolescents), during pregnancy, during illness and post-surgery, and for athletes competing in power sports such as weightlifting in the early stages of their training regime.

How much protein can food give your body?

Is it possible for the food and beverages you consume to provide enough protein to meet your daily needs or is a protein supplement worth the cost and, for some of us, taste? The list of options here shows you how much of certain foods you’d need to eat for 10 grams of protein, followed by an example of what this could look like as meals and snacks over a day to meet your protein needs.